I saw a production of this show almost five year ago, so I don't remember much about it, but I do remember the ending (fairly) vividly. I believe that they did the whole "prisoner" thing with the Emcee, but here's the kicker . . . They had actual footage of concentration camp prisoners being tortured, being murdered, having their bodies being dragged, just horribly stuff . . . and they played it on a screen onstage. Not only did they have it on a screen, they had it on the walls of the theatre, so no matter where you looked you were forced to look at it. And then at the very end, the Emcee sat in front of the screen, and they flashed a Dante quote, "The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality."

See that's a bit over the top for me. I mean yes its meant to be that the war has then taken over etc, but stuff like that makes it out as though the whole show was just some big history lesson with this as its agenda.

The ending of Cabaret truly sickens me. How a show that was so lighthearted and, well, happy, turned bitter and harmful, really upsets me. Virtually nobody got a happy ending, and to top it all off, they're plagued with anti-Semitism. I guess that was life

Sat Oct 14, 2006 7:50 pm

Ulla Dance Again!

Broadway Legend

Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 6:55 pmPosts: 505

^ Well, for intents and purposes, it is set in 1930's Berlin, admist the rise of Nazism so of course it's not a walk in the park.

^ Well, for intents and purposes, it is set in 1930's Berlin, admist the rise of Nazism so of course it's not a walk in the park.

Of course, of course.

Like I said before, that was life.

Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:08 pm

what_the_heck013

Broadway Legend / MdN Veteran

Joined: Thu Jan 27, 2005 10:43 pmPosts: 3365Location: <310

Would anyone happen to know how the Original Broadway production ended?

Mon Oct 16, 2006 6:17 pm

Ulla Dance Again!

Broadway Legend

Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 6:55 pmPosts: 505

Eponine Thenardier wrote:

Ulla Dance Again! wrote:

^ Well, for intents and purposes, it is set in 1930's Berlin, admist the rise of Nazism so of course it's not a walk in the park.

Of course, of course.

Like I said before, that was life.

Ahh all right. I hope I didn't sound too bitchy (I get sort of anal about the show - it's my favorite musical). I think that is sort of the beauty of Cabaret because it's so disturbing. It makes you think. And it's one of the few musicals that you can always find something to discuss.

I do believe in the original production the Emcee lines up the Kit Kat boys and girls and shoots them, like a firing squad... though I could be wrong.

And he gestured; the lights focused on where the band should have been. But there wasn't any. Yet the music continued, the wall in front of the set fell away.

The set disappeared; the cast stood, shadowy and dim. And then there was light. Not ordinary light, but a stark white light, one so pure yet so alone that you couldn't tell if it was a heaven or another place that you were seeing.

The increasingly discordant music built to a terrifying roar; the only sounds were an ominous rumbling that seemed to crawl inside you and a violin shrieking.

The violin stopped. All you could see was shadows and white light. All you could hear was the rumbling.

Then there was silence.

"Auf weidersehen," the Emcee said.

"A bientot....."

Then, slowly, he took off his coat. He was wearing the clothes of a prisoner, a concentration camp prisoner.

The drumroll sounded. The cymbals clashed. And then there was darkness.

In paris, we've got exactly the same ending. I saw the musical for a second time 2 days a go, I was a the kit kat places and it just was amasing, i really love that musical because i love this ambiance so cabaret, and there's a terrible story telling us nazism end bad things that we knew in France too. That part of history is so important for me, i think that's wonderful a musical talk about, that just mean that we have to never forget.

In france Musicals are so boring, french people try to make them, but it just look like some shows done by children at the end of school's year ... pathetic ... That's why i love so much Cabaret, i'm so proud to have it in france. But unfotunately, no advertisings, and not much succes, so sad ...
Each time i see that ending, i can't forget! I go out from the theatre, and 'im juste anable to talk, i think about nazism, and think about the past.
Our actors are really wonderful, I just hope one day, Cabaret will be a succes in France.

(sorry for my english ...)

Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:36 am

Salome

Broadway Legend / MdN Veteran

Joined: Fri Apr 18, 2003 11:07 pmPosts: 11297
Main Role: Performer

Eponine Thenardier wrote:

The ending of Cabaret truly sickens me. How a show that was so lighthearted and, well, happy, turned bitter and harmful, really upsets me. Virtually nobody got a happy ending, and to top it all off, they're plagued with anti-Semitism. I guess that was life

my question to you is...where does the show start off happy and lighthearteds?? did someone write a "Cabaret" other than Kander and Ebb? LOL

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Mon Feb 26, 2007 10:45 am

The Duchess of Mint

Broadway Legend

Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2002 11:23 pmPosts: 1000

I wonder what the original Broadway ending was like...

Dear Musicals.Net Posters,

I'm wondering what the original Broadway ending was like.

I do know what the movie ending is like. The movie ends with...SPOILERS...

the camera panning across the Kit Kat Club's new audience, which is comprised totally of the brainwashed people of the new regime of Germany.

Lalalei and Playwrightmo's endings sound somewhat similar to the one my alma mater did ten years ago. More or less, the show followed the original...Cliff was 100% straight, for example. They kept "Meeskite", put in "Money, Money" (but not "Mein Herr") as well as "Sitting Pretty", "Maybe This Time," and gave the Emcee "Don't Go" to sing when Sally was trying to decide whether to leave Germany...as if he were a voice from her subconscious.

During the show, they'd occasionally shown slides on the wings...images of German propaganda posters and such like.

At the finale, right after Sally finished "Cabaret", the cast went into a robotic reprise of "Tomorrow Belongs To Me." Around then, I noticed that yellow Stars of David and pink triangles had appeared on certain cast members.

Then, the backdrop was yanked away to reveal an immense swastika. Recordings of flames and screams were heard. Smoke poured onto the stage and the "marked" characters walked robotically into the smoke. On the wings (much like in Playwrightmo's production), slides of concentration-camp scenes and victims (Anne Frank among them) were projected, finally dissolving into the words "NEVER FORGET" and "NEVER AGAIN".

The stage faded into darkness, leaving the Emcee, his makeup looking like a death's head, grinning at us in a spotlight. "Mein Dammen und Herren...where are your troubles now? Forgotten? I told you so! Here we have no troubles! Auf Wiedersehen...a bientot...and I wish you all a very good night!" He snapped a "Heil Hitler" salute which changed to an elaborate bow. Drumroll...and silence.

Although the Holocaust images may have been a bit over-the-top, I think I prefer this presentation of the Emcee, as a sinister figure, to the "concentration camp victim" of the revival, effective as it is. I always considered the Emcee a symbol of the evil that was enveloping Germany, not a victim of it. To me, the Emcee makes more sense as a sinister figure to the last.

_________________For out of what we live and we believe...
Our lives become the stories that we weave.
-- "Once On This Island"

Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:37 pm

Bianca.

Broadway Legend

Joined: Sat May 06, 2006 6:10 pmPosts: 1090

Jennifer Lynn wrote:

Although the Holocaust images may have been a bit over-the-top, I think I prefer this presentation of the Emcee, as a sinister figure, to the "concentration camp victim" of the revival, effective as it is. I always considered the Emcee a symbol of the evil that was enveloping Germany, not a victim of it. To me, the Emcee makes more sense as a sinister figure to the last.

That's a perspective I've never seen before. I've always envisioned Emcee as a victim as well. Now I'm intrigued to see a production of it done this way..

I'd forgotten how much I loved this show..

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I am convinced you were meant to be a gay man... you were just born a woman. _DCrowley